Alexander Nikishin switches NHL agent to Theofanos

Alexander Nikishin has changed his NHL agent, ending his working relationship with Quartexx and moving his representation to Paul Theofanos, according to PuckPedia.

The Carolina Hurricanes defenceman is a restricted free agent and has already asked the club for a trade. The switch comes amid reports, carried by Match TV, that a move to the New York Rangers was a real possibility back in June — a deal that collapsed, by all accounts, because of how his previous representatives handled it.

A source close to the situation told the channel that Nikishin's file at Quartexx had been passed to a younger lawyer.

"Quartexx handed Alexander Nikishin's case to a young lawyer named Ben, who speaks Russian but at the time had practically no experience running his own agency work or his own client base. The company's more experienced agents were not deeply involved with Russian hockey players. Even so, back in June there was a genuine option of a deal with the New York Rangers, but it ultimately fell through because of the player's representatives," the source said.

Nikishin, 23, put together 33 points — 11 goals and 22 assists — with a plus-18 rating in 81 regular-season games for Carolina last term, then added one assist in 17 games through the championship run in the play-offs, finishing that stretch at minus-1.

A move to the Rangers would have put him alongside Artemi Panarin, whom NHL Network ranked 39th among the league's current best players earlier this month. The Rangers open their season on 29 September at Madison Square Garden.

With a new agent now in place, Nikishin's camp may look to revisit a trade out of Carolina before the season gets far underway, though nothing beyond the change of representation has been confirmed.